Saint Ignatius of Loyola (Basque: Loiolako Inazio, Eneko Loiolakoa, Spanish: Ignacio de Loyola), (1491[1] – July 31, 1556) was a Spanish knight, who became a hermit and priest, founding the Society of Jesus and becoming its first Superior General.[2] Ignatius and the Jesuits became major figures in the Counter-Reformation, where the Catholic Church worked to reform itself from within and countered the theology of Protestantism. After his death he was beatified and then on March 12, 1622, was canonized. The feast day of Ignatius is celebrated on July 31 — he is the patron saint of soldiers, the Society of Jesus, the Basque Country, the provinces of Guipúzcoa and Biscay, among other things.[3]
From a Basque noble family Ignatius was initially a knight, but after his leg was seriously wounded at the Battle of Pamplona during the Italian War of 1521–1526, he underwent a spiritual conversion while in recovery. Ignatius had read De Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony which inspired him to abandon his previous lifestyle, to live a life of labour for God following the example of men like Francis of Assisi. He claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus at the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat, while living as a hermit in a cave at nearby Manresa.
He visited the Holy Land with the desire of reconverting the area, but was sent back to Europe by the Franciscans. Ignatius then spent seven years learning theology and Latin, firstly at three universities in Spain and then one in Paris — he arrived in the city at the same time John Calvin was leaving. After gaining a tightly knit association of followers, Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus which received recognition from Pope Paul III. Highly disciplined, the movement's followers learned the Spiritual Exercises and Constitution. Education and self-examination were at the core. At the time of Loyola’s death in 1556, there were 1,000 Jesuits organised into eleven units.
Early life
The youngest of 13 children, Íñigo was only seven years old when his mother died. In 1506, Íñigo adopted the last name "de Loyola" in reference of the Basque city of Loyola where he was born and later became a page in the service of a relative, Juan Velázquez de Cuéllar, treasurer (contador mayor) of the kingdom of Castile.
In 1509, Íñigo took up arms for Antonio Manrique de Lara, Duke of Nájera and Viceroy of Navarre. According to Thomas Rochford, S.J., his diplomacy and leadership qualities made him a gentilhombre[9] very useful to the Duke.[10] Under the Duke's leadership, he participated in many battles without injury to himself. But when the French army, supporting the Navarrese monarchy expelled in 1512, stormed Pamplona's fortress on May 20, 1521, a cannonball wounded one of his legs and broke the other.[10] Heavily injured, Íñigo was returned to the castle. He was very concerned about the injuries on his leg and had several surgical operations, which were very painful in the days before anaesthetics.
[edit] Religious aspiration places
During the time he was recovering, Ignatius read a number of religious texts on the life of Jesus called the Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony [12][13]and the saints and became fired with an ambition to lead a life of self-denying labor and emulate the heroic deeds of Francis of Assisi and other great monastic leaders. He resolved to devote himself to the conversion of non-Christians in the Holy Land. Upon recovery, he visited the Benedictine monastery, Santa Maria de Montserrat (March 25, 1522), where he hung his military vestments before an image of the Virgin. He then went and spent several months in a cave near the town of Manresa, Catalonia where he practiced the most rigorous asceticism. Ignatius began seeing a series of hallucinations in full daylight in a hospital. This repetitive vision appeared as "a form in the air near him and this form gave him much consolation because it was exceedingly beautiful ... it somehow seemed to have the shape of a serpent and had many things that shone like eyes, but were not eyes. He received much delight and consolation from gazing upon this object ... but when the object vanished he became disconsolate." [14] He begged his journey to the Holy Land, as a way of self denial and sacrifice. He spent from September 3 to 23, 1523 in the Holy Land and twelve years later, standing before the Pope with his companions, it was again to Jerusalem that he proposed sending his companions as emissaries. [15]| Society of Jesus | |
Regimini militantis Suppression Jesuit Hierarchy Superior General Adolfo Nicolás Ignatian Spirituality Spiritual Exercises Ad maiorem Dei gloriam Magis Discernment Famous Jesuits St. Ignatius of Loyola St. Francis Xavier Blessed Peter Faber St. Aloysius Gonzaga St. Robert Bellarmine St. Peter Canisius St. Edmund Campion | |
By 1534 he had six key companions, all of whom he met as students at the University— Francis Xavier, Alfonso Salmeron, Diego Laynez, and Nicholas Bobadilla, all Spanish; Peter Faber, a Frenchman; and Simão Rodrigues of Portugal. Later on he was joined by Francisco de Borja, a member of the House of Borgia who was the main aide of Emperor Charles V, and other nobles. "On the morning of the 15th of August, 1534, in the crypt of the Church of Our Lady of the Martyrs, at Montmartre, Loyola and his six companions, of whom only one was a priest, met and took upon themselves the solemn vows of their lifelong work." [18] Ignatius of Loyola was the main creator and initial Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious organization of the Catholic Church whose members, known as Jesuits, served the Pope as missionaries. He is remembered as a talented spiritual director. He was very vigorous in opposing the Protestant Reformation and promoting the following Counter-Reformation. He was beatified and then canonized and received the title of Saint on March 12, 1622. He is the patron saint of the provinces of Guipuscoa and Biscay along with the Society of Jesus. Ignatius Loyola wrote Spiritual Exercises, a simple 200-page set of meditations, prayers, and various other mental exercises, from 1522 to 1524. The exercises of the book were designed to be carried out over a period of 28-30 days.
[edit] Father General of the Jesuits
Ignatius was chosen as the first Superior General of his religious order, invested with the title of Father General by the Jesuits. He sent his companions as missionaries around Europe to create schools, colleges, and seminaries. Juan de Vega, the ambassador of Charles V at Rome had met Ignatius there. Esteeming him and the Jesuits, when Vega was appointed Viceroy of Sicily he brought Jesuits with him. A Jesuit college was opened at Messina; success was marked, and its rules and methods were afterwards copied in other colleges.[19] In 1548 Spiritual Exercises was finally printed, and he was briefly brought before the Roman Inquisition, but was released.
Famous Quote of Loyola:
| “ | That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity with the Church herself, if she shall have defined anything to be black which appears to our eyes to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black. For we must undoubtingly believe, that the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of the Orthodox Church His Spouse, by which Spirit we are governed and directed to Salvation, is the same; ... [20] | ” |
[edit] Canonization and legacy
Ignatius was beatified by Pope Paul V on July 27, 1609 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 13, 1622. His feast day is celebrated annually on July 31, the day he died. Saint Ignatius is venerated as the patron saint of Catholic soldiers, the ordinariate of the Philippine military, the Basque country and various towns and cities in his native region.On April 22, 2006, Feast of Our Lady, Mother of the Society of Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI said that "St Ignatius of Loyola institutions, are dedicated to St Ignatius." Perhaps the most famous of them is Basilica of St Ignatius Loyola, built next to the house where he was born in Azpeitia, the Basque Country. The house itself, now a museum, is incorporated into the basilica complex.
As probably one of the most important parts of the material part of his legacy, we can find many Jesuit schools and general educational institutions worldwide: see [1], one the most popular of them being Georgetown University, along with the Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola University Maryland, Fairfield University, Fordham University, The College of the Holy Cross, Loyola University New Orleans, Loyola University Chicago, Loyola Marymount University, Boston College, and University of Scranton, as well as high schools like St Aloysius´College, Sydney. In the United States alone there are 28 Jesuit colleges and universities, and more than 50 secondary schools.
[edit] Genealogy
[edit] Shield of Oñaz-Loyola
The Shield of Oñaz-Loyola is a symbol of St. Ignatius family's Oñaz lineage, and is used by many Jesuit institutions around the world.
[edit] Lineage
Villoslada established the following detailed genealogy of St. Ignatius:[1]Lope de Oñaz (~1180)
├ García López de Oñaz (~1221)
├ López García de Oñaz
wife: Inés, dame of Loyola – unit of families (~1261)
├ daughter: Inés de Oñaz y Loyola (~end of XIII c.)
husband: Juan Pérez (related)
├ Jaun (Basque - Lord) Juan Pérez
├ Gil López de Oñaz
├ other 5 brothers (see – battle of Beotibar)
Beltrán Yáñez (el Ibáñez) de Loyola, son of Jaun Juan (+1405)
wife: Ochanda Martínez de Leete from Azpeitia
├ Sancha Ibáñez de Loyola
| husband: Lope García de Lazcano
| married: 4 III 1413
├ heir: Juan Pérez de Loyola (d. childless, heirdom for Sancha)
├ Maria Beltranche
├ Elvira
├ Emilia
├ Juanecha
Juan Pérez de Loyola, son of Sancha Ibáñez (+ in Tolosa)
wife: Sancha Pérez de Iraeta (+1473)
├ Don Beltrán Yáñez (vel Ibáñez) de Oñaz y Loyola (+ 23 X 1507)
wife: Doña Marina Sáenz (vel Sánchez) de Licona (+ < 6 V 1508)
married: 13 VII 1467 r.
13 children:
1. Juan Pérez de Loyola (+1503 in Naples)
2. heir – Don Martín García de Oñaz y Loyola (1477 – 29 XI 1538)
wife: Magdalena de Araoz
married: 11 IX 1498
* – order uncertain
*. Ochoa Pérez de Loyola
*. Juan Beltrán de Loyola
*. Beltrán de Loyola (+ < 14 XI 1527)
*. Hernando de Loyola (+ in Panama, New World)
*. Pero López de Oñaz y Loyola (priest, + < VII 1529 in Barcelona)
*. Juaniza (vel Joaneiza) de Loyola, wife of Juan Marínez de Alzaga, notary from Azpeitia
*. Magdalena de Loyola, wife of Juan López de Gallaiztegui, notary from Anzuola
*. Sancha Ibáñez de Loyola
*. Petronila de Loyola, wife of Pedro Ochoa de Arriola
*. Maria Beltrán de Loyola, wife of Domingo de Arruado
13. Iñigo López de Loyola (< 23 X 1491 – 31 VII 1556)
[edit] Bibliography
- Loyola, (St.) Ignatius (1964). The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Anthony Mottola. Garden City: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385024365.
- Loyola, (St.) Ignatius (1900). Joseph O'Conner. ed. The Autobiography of St. Ignatius. New York: Benziger Brothers. OCLC 1360267. http://www.archive.org/details/stignatiusautobi00ignauoft.[21]
- Loyola, (St.) Ignatius (1992). John Olin. ed. The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola, with Related Documents. New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 082321480X.
- Foss, Michael (1969). The Founding of the Jesuits, 1540. Turning Points in History Series. London: Hamilton. ISBN 0241015138.
- Bartoli, Daniello (1855). History of the Life and Institute of St. Ignatius de Loyola: Founder of the Society of Jesus. New York: Edward Dunigan and Brother. http://books.google.com/books?id=Y0IQAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=ignatius+de+loyola.
- Caraman, Philip (1990). Ignatius Loyola: A Biography of the Founder of the Jesuits'. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 0062501305.
- O'Malley, John W. (1993). The First Jesuits. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674303121.
- Meissner, William (1992). Ignatius of Loyola: The Psychology of a Saint. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300060793.
- García Villoslada, Ricardo (1986) (in Spanish). San Ignacio de Loyola: Nueva biografía. La Editorial Católica. ISBN 8422012677.
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